By Roy Lie A Tjam. During the month of June 2016, the Office of Commercial Affairs of the Royal Thai Embassy in The Hague held culinary events around the Netherlands in conjunction with Amazing Oriental supermarket. Events were held in the Oriental supermarkets of Almere, Beverwijk, Rotterdam and The Hague. There were cooking demonstrations, free tasting of Thai food products and free recipe booklets with detailed information on the delights that Thai cuisine has to offer. The events were well attended, and Mr. Nissana Thaveepanit, Minister Counselor in charge of commercial affairs and his staff could look back with pride on a successful promotional campaign.

H.E. Willys Delvalle, Ambassador of Panama.   Roy Lie A Tjam. A large audience gathered to attend the opening of “Panama opens its doors to the World”, a photography exhibition organized by the Embassy of Panama in The Hague, at the Atrium of the City Hall. The exhibitions run from 28 June to 2 July 2016.The images on display take you on a voyage through the construction of the Panama Canal Expansion. For additional Hester Dijstra photos, please pen the following link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157667693521673

The Ambassador of Panama H.E. Willys Delvalle organized a reception on 28 June 2016, to celebrate both the opening of the photo exhibition and the Panama Canal expansion inauguration. Members of the Diplomatic community, the Dutch Foreign Ministry, the business community, the Panamanian diaspora as well as members of the social and cultural community in the Netherlands attended the reception.

The Panama Canal Expansion is the largest project since its original construction 102 years ago. The project will create a new lane of traffic along the 80 Km. Canal through the construction of a new set of locks, doubling the waterway’s capacity. The existing locks allow the passage of vessels that can carry up to 5,000 TEUs. After the expansion, the Neo-Panama vessels will be able to transit through the Canal, with up to 13,000/14,000 TEUs. The Expansion will double the Canal’s capacity, having a direct impact on economies of scale and international maritime trade. The Panama Canal expansion is based on six years of research, which included more than 100 studies on the economic feasibility, market demand, environmental impact and other technical engineering aspects. Works on the Panama Canal Expansion began in September 2007 at a total cost of US$5.2 billion. The Ambassador of Panama H.E. Willys Delvalle, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Panama cordially welcomed the many guests to the special Panamanian reception-exhibition, Ambassador Delvalle held an interesting and detailed expose pertaining to the outstanding developments of his country.

Here are some extracts of his expose: ‘The history of the Republic of Panama has been constructed by several key events that have allowed us to create our identity. Almost 102 years ago and after 10 years of hard and dangerous work the Panama Canal first opened its locks to the world. The historic maiden transit of the Canal was done by the USS ANCON on August 15, 1914. Since then over ONE million ships have transited the canal and just last year alone more than 340 million tons of cargo were transported thru the canal.  Since the Panama Canal opened in 1914, great progress has been achieved. As of December 31^st, 1999, the Panama Canal became fully operated and managed by 10,000 qualified, dedicated and motivated Panamanian, men and women who work 24 hours a day 365 days a year to guarantee the safe, efficient, and productive passage thru our waterway for more than 14,000 ships every year from all over the world. Furthermore, I’m pleased to say that our Government has strengthened our competitive advantages with solid economic development and political stability which have boosted foreign direct investment, and the establishment of over 120 Regional Headquarters for Multinationals companies based in Panamá.  We have also developed our culture and sports. Panama’s national dress “La Pollera” is an art piece made totally by hand and recognized internationally. We can also highlight our national gastronomy, maybe not well known here in the Netherlands, but I can asure you it is very delicious, Panamanian music, with multiple Grammy award winner Ruben Blades, Los Ravanes and others, poetry and also renowned painters like our good friend and colleague Cultural Ambassador Olguita Sinclair.  

It has taken us 9 years and many hurdles to be able to achieve this enormous task. Many might think that this project or construction is like any other one. But there was much more to it. First was the environmental study, this was of huge importance to our country as we did not want to damage our Eco system. A rescue and relocate operation of wildlife started and concluded with the safe relocation of hundred’s of marine, amphibian and other wild life. A huge reforestation project, an estimated 2,800 hectars were planted in many areas of Panama, to replace the flora that had to be removed for the project. As all of this was not enough, we had the construction of the locks. More than 4.4 Million cubic meters of cement were poured to build these enormous locks and 16 rolling gates of 3,200 tons each had to be built in Italy and brought on special vessels to Panama. Our country is an important link in the global supply chain that has shortened distances. The new Panama Canal locks will allow the passage of between 12 and 16 Neopanamax vessels per day. Vessels that can transport of over 13,000 containers or meassure 366 meters long.  The expansion of the Panama Canal provides the world with greater shipping options, better maritime service, enhanced logistics and supply-chain reliability. It doubles the capacity of the waterway in terms of cargo capacity and quantity of vessels. Since the new larger vessels can now take advantage of the Canal’s vast benefits, economies of scales will make products more affordable, new business opportunities in the logistic sector will grow, new routes and markets will be developed, liner services and other maritime ventures are expected to emerge. This new scenario will also benefit the establishment of new business’ around the waterway; such as transport and storage of LNG, a roll on / roll off Terminal, the establishment of a Logistic park, a new mega Container Terminal in the Corozal area, bunkering services, pipelines, shipyard, energy generation and others.  Ladies and Gentlemen, the Panama Canal has a distance of 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the deep waters of the Atlantic to the deep waters of the Pacific. We are the only country in the world where you can enjoy a swim in the Atlantic and after barely one hour car drive you can then swim in the warm waters of the Pacific ocean while enjoying a spectacular sunset, and a piña colada. Last but not least a very special thanks to the Municipality of The Hague, for all their help and support, and to our Panama Embassy collegues for all their hard work and dedication to put this event in such a short time.’          

EU Ambassadors lunch hosted by HE Ambassador Maryem van den Heuvel. Dutch Residence in Brussels: Bilateral Netherlands ambassador to Belgium hosted on June 21, an EU lunch for her 27 colleagues from EU member states in the presence of the Belgian Federal Minister for Security and Interior, Jan Jambon, as guest of honour.  This function was the very last one hosted by HE Ambassador Maryem van den Heuvel in the framework of the Dutch Presidency of the EU Council. On 1 July 2016, The Netherlands hands over the council’s presidency to Slovakia. 

  For more information: Royal Dutch Embassy to the Kingdom of Belgium: http://belgie.nlambassade.org   Pictures by the Royal Dutch Embassy to the Kingdom of Belgium    

By Viviana Knorr. On 30 June at 15:30h the International Criminal Court of the former Yugoslavia in The Hague added a new judgment to the Appeals Chamber Judgement list in the case of Mićo Stanišić and Stojan Župljanin, two former high ranking Bosnian Serb officials were rendered. The verdict The Appeals Chamber today confirmed the convictions of Mićo Stanišić, former Minister of the Interior of Republika Srpska, and Stojan Župljanin, former Chief of the Regional Security Services Centre of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The Appeals Chamber affirmed that Stanišić and Župljanin are criminally responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in BiH in 1992, in 20 and eight municipalities respectively. The Judges affirmed both of the accused’s sentences of 22 years’ imprisonment. The judgement was broadcasted live on the Tribunal’s website. More info about the judgement can be found on ICTY website via this link. http://www.icty.org/en/press/appeals-chamber-affirms-stanisic-and-zupljanin-sentences Mićo Stanišić is the former Minister of the Interior of Republika Srpska. Stojan Župljanin is the former Chief of the Regional Security Services Centre of Banja Luka and were indicted as participants in a joint criminal enterprise (JCE) aimed at permanently removing Bosnian Muslims, Bosnian Croats, and other non-Serbs from the territory of a planned Serbian state in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). At the time, the Trial Chamber found that Stanišić and Župljanin participated in this joint criminal enterprise and where many of the crimes committed in a number of municipalities in BiH were foreseeable to the accused. Both Stanišić and Župljanin were sentenced by The Trial Chamber to 22 years imprisonment for crimes against humanity and war committed between April and December 1992 in BiH. Since its establishment, the Tribunal has indicted 161 persons for serious violations of humanitarian law committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991. Proceedings against 151 accused individuals have been concluded. Proceedings are currently ongoing for 10 accused.